two kinds of planes to get there, 5 to 8H trip due to the lack of real jet runway on the ice
there is a long tunnel to cross the continental divide
hacked up ESP32 with level converters on breadboard to run 3x 64x32 SmartMatrix panels with SmartMatrix::GFX
64x64 P3.8 SmartMatrix::GFX panel vs 3x 64x32 SmartMatrix::GFX P4 flexible panels vs 4x 16x16 FastLED::NeoMatrix P10 panels
I wasn't able to bring my burning man 4096 neopixel matrix, it doesn't even fit in my car, but the irony is that my small 64x64 rgbpanel has the same resolution and fits easily in my backpack
The 64x64 compact display is showing the hand X-ray here
http://marc.merlins.org/perso/arduino/post_2015-01-06_Driver-for-direct-driving-single-to-3-color-LED-Matrices-with-software-PWM.html http://marc.merlins.org/perso/arduino/post_2017-04-03_Arduino-328P-Uno-Teensy3_1-ESP8266-ESP32-IR-and-Neopixels.html http://marc.merlins.org/perso/arduino/post_2017-04-24_Adafruit-GFX-on-NeoMatrix-and-RGB-Matrix-Panel-Demo.html http://marc.merlins.org/perso/arduino/post_2017-06-02_LED-Pants-and-Shirt-Programmed-With-Arduino-on-ESP8266.html http://marc.merlins.org/perso/arduino/post_2018-04-23_FastLED_NeoMatrix-library_-how-to-do-Matrices-with-FastLED-and-Adafruit_GFX.html http://marc.merlins.org/perso/arduino/post_2018-05-29_EDM-Party-Shirt-powered-with-FastLED_NeoMatrix-and-Adafruit_GFX_-plus-160Wh-_10Ah-4S_-worth-of-lipos.html http://marc.merlins.org/perso/arduino/post_2018-07-13_AnimatedGIFs-for-SmartMatrix-or-NeoMatrix-_Neopixel-WS2812B_-from-SDcard-or-SPIFFS_-on-Teensy-3_x_-ESP8266_-or-ESP32.html http://marc.merlins.org/perso/arduino/post_2018-07-30_Building-a-64x64-Neopixel-Neomatrix-_4096-pixels_-running-NeoMatrix-FastLED-IR.html https://github.com/marcmerlin/SmartMatrix_GFX
sadly they hunted the Moa to extinction
the cars were eager to perform :)
Andy and Jon who ended up working all night to make sure the kits would work the next morning
rPi with custom last minute hat for the donkey car
Jon gave a talk about the car design
Nice way to support 5V neopixels on 3.3V microcontrollers
really nice keynote showing how to hack insulin dispensers to deliver the right amount at the right time
Commodore 65 slide presentation program
fpga based cell phone running alongside a commodore 65 fpga, awesome
Rusty's keynote for the win :)
Rusty gave a few talks since then :)
very interesting talk on how painful it was to take over grsecurity maintenance
love this little laptop I found
stone buildings did not fare well, the church was heavily damaged
8 years later, many buildings are still being fixed
the Keas are quite curious and hungry too if you have food :)
hard to tell that this is all a glacier with the dirt on top
we got nice crampons to walk on the ice
this is the edge of the glacier that melts into a lake, with a few visible icebergs
I tried to take a souvenir home, but somehow it didn't quite make it
that's what the glacier actually looks like at the point it breaks into icebergs
the kakapo is so cute, but critically endangered (about 130 birds left in the world)
there were plenty of these on the track
I got in Brod Bay in no time, where a few peole were camping
I got a tui to make fun noises for me
the peaks started showing up slowly
the added pads in the room very packed together, must suck to sleep with so many people in the same room
eventually got back out after about 1H
those pretty fearless birds were all over the track
by the time I came back, the fog/clouds had fully lifted
interesting rocky ground lifted up and cracked
with picture perfect weather, I went from peak view to peak view
eventually got to luxmore peak, an easy climb
I ran into a googl gfit personal trainer from Isreal :)
the 2nd hut had keas waiting to steal food from you
instead of having it destroy my pack to steal my food, I just gave it some :)
eventually made it to Iris Burn in 10.5H or so (plus the 1H detour to Luxmore cave)o
the waterfall was not fantastic, but eh, it was closeby :)
the way back had lots of birds, here a fantail
these robins were all over the track, checking us out
robins came back to check out my feet
eventually made it to Moturau hut in just 4h13 at a moving average of 5.4km/h
final bridge to rainbow reach carpark which I got in just 6H, including a lunch stop
DOC Huts often look like this. Many people in one big room. One person snoring is probably guaranteed
this is so wrong that I had to do it :)
this was also wrong enough that I had to take a picture :)
the routeburn lost many birds due to introduced mammals, we only got to see a few
the generator output went into a room that became a drying rack, nice idea
you could even do your laundry
the lodge was spacious of course
you could even pay more to get a private room
a few courageous people went in the very cold water
it's obviously less plush, but still beats sleeping outside in a potential heavy rainstorm
it explained how they are trying to kill the mammals have been decimating the local birds
those traps are all over the track, hopefully they work
warning on how the keas love to destroy your hiking boots :)
the lake by the lodge is quite big
we got lucky enough to a flock of Keas fly by
we had a lunch break by saddle shelter huts
our guides made drinks for us, served with cookies :)
my boot didn't look great, but it worked for the rest of the hike
this was going to be our hike out on the 3rd day, but we never got that view again
the other lodge was very nice too
while the DOC hut was a bit more packed
I did manage to miss a spot with the sunscreen the previous day
my 2nd boot also failed just as I exited. I guess it didn't like the water
these backgrounds were used for many movies
to kill invasive possums, they have this resetable kill traps
then we got on a 90kph jetboat
but the wall ended up opening first
cornice got a bit busy when it opened
that viz was still better than the viz from the previous afternoon
by 14:30, we finally got to see the sky for a short time, while enjoying 5-6 runs off the wall